Rachel Cooper OBE is Distinguished Professor of Design Management and Policy at Lancaster University. She is a Director of ImaginationLancaster, an open and exploratory design-led research centre conducting applied and theoretical research into people, products, places and their interactions, and also Chair of Lancaster institute for the Contemporary Arts. Professor Cooper’s research interests cover: design thinking; design management; design policy; and across all sectors of industry, a specific interest in design for wellbeing and socially responsible design. She has published extensively on these topics, including books 'Designing Sustainable Cities' and 'The Handbook of Wellbeing and the Environment'. She is also series editor of the Routledge series Design for Social Responsibility covering topics such as designing for sustainability, inclusivity, service design, sport, health, transport and policy. She was founding editor of The Design Journal and also founding President of the European Academy of Design.

She is currently working on Liveable Cities, a £5m funded six-year research programme working to identify design and engineering solutions that will lead to low-carbon, resource-secure, future cities in which societal wellbeing is prioritised. Also ‘The Creative Exchange’, a £3m three year programme looking at the growth of the creative industries through exploring the ‘digital public space' and a new types of PhD’s programme. She has also just begun work on the recently announced 'Internet of Things' (IoT) Hub Lancaster University lead in a UCL led consortium that has received £9.8 million support from EPSRC as part of a £40 million investment programme from UK Government. She is Academic Lead for the N8 universities (the eight most research intensive Universities in the North of England: Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York.) on Urban Living Research.

Professor Cooper has undertaken several advisory roles to national and international universities, government and non-governmental organisations. She was a member of Infrastructure and Environment Strategic Advisory Team of the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) until 2005. She has also chaired EPSRC commissioning panels on Crime and the cross council review of UK National Collaboration on Ageing Research programme and she was mentor on EPSRC Sandpits on Mobile Health and Countering Terrorism in 2006/7. She is currently a member of EPSRC Strategic Advisory Network. Professor Cooper was UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) panel convenor for visual arts and media practice, history, theory Postgraduate awards between 2000 & 2005, and sat on the Council of the AHRC (2000/10). She was also a member of the advisory panel on the AHRC/ESRC's Cultures of Consumption programme and chairs the advisory panel for the AHRC/EPSRC's 'Designing for the 21st Century' initiative. She was a member of the UK Research Assessment Exercise Panel for Art and Design in 2008 and 2014 chaired the research review panel for art, design architecture and media for Aalto University, (2009) and is currently chair of Aalto School of Arts Strategic Advisory Board and was a member of the Research Assessment exercise for Gothenburg University 2010. In 2011 she was invited to be a member of the European Design Innovation Initiative Leadership Board that produced recommendations on Design for Prosperity and Growth for the EU. She was amember of the Blackett Review of the Internet of Things 2014.

She is a also Non executive Director of the Future Cities Catapult, a visiting Professor at the Royal College of Art (RCA)and a member of RCA Council. Professor Cooper was a Lead Expert for the UK Government Foresight programme on the Future of Cities, is on the Academy of Medical Sciences Working group addressing ‘The Health of the Public 2040’ and is a member of the Partnership for Prevention Sciences Steering Group. She is the Royal Society representative member of the Scientific Committee for Health and Wellbeing in the Changing Urban Environment – an International Council for Science Programme co-sponsored with the United Nations University (UNU) and the InterAcademy Medical Panel (IAMP).

Updates and Outcomes

the International Symposium on Urban Health and Wellbeing in the Asia-Pacific Region!

Improving health and well-being for cities, requires addressing the demographic shift related to an ageing population, the epidemiologic shift from infectious to noncommunicable diseases, and climate change,...Read full update

The Design Research Society Conference 2018 (DRS) was held at the University of Limerick, Ireland from 25th-28th June. At the conference, Director of ImaginationLancaster and DRS President,...Read full update

As a result of a 3-day Communication Symposium held in March 2017 in Lancaster, Liveable Cities has produced a series of informative videos. Please follow this link to the Liveable Cities official website, where we have all 37 videos available to watch, download and...More information

As output of our work relating to Adoption and Acceptability and the House Training the Internet of Things for the PETRAS Cybersecurity for the Internet of Things Research Hub we have created a guide for designers and developers of IoT products and services who may wish to use Design Fiction as part of their design processs.
In this little book we explain:
...Read full article

This little book tells you about research that we did as part of the Liveable Cities project, looking at wellbeing in neighbourhoods. We begin by describing wellbeing and how different people have tried measuring the concept. A research study is presented next, showing how two factors - urban...More information

Our research using Design Fiction to consider futures for the Internet of Things is featured by IOTUK

The Internet of Things is beginning to make changes in all sectors, in all parts of the UK and across the world. From applications on the factory floor, in shops, in the doctor’s surgery and...Read full update

the International Symposium on Urban Health and Wellbeing in the Asia-Pacific Region!

Improving health and well-being for cities, requires addressing the demographic shift related to an ageing population, the epidemiologic shift from infectious to noncommunicable diseases, and climate change,...Read full update

The Design Research Society Conference 2018 (DRS) was held at the University of Limerick, Ireland from 25th-28th June. At the conference, Director of ImaginationLancaster and DRS President,...Read full update

Our research using Design Fiction to consider futures for the Internet of Things is featured by IOTUK

The Internet of Things is beginning to make changes in all sectors, in all parts of the UK and across the world. From applications on the factory floor, in shops, in the doctor’s surgery and...Read full update

Design Value: The Role of Design in Innovation was an eighteen-month AHRC funded research project carried out in collaboration with Innovate UK and the Knowledge Transfer Network Special Interest Group on Design. The...Read full update

As output of our work relating to Adoption and Acceptability and the House Training the Internet of Things for the PETRAS Cybersecurity for the Internet of Things Research Hub we have created a guide for designers and developers of IoT products and services who may wish to use Design Fiction as part of their design processs.
In this little book we explain:
...Read full article

Applications are invited for a full time, fully funded PhD studentship as part of our ongoing research into Urban Futures.
ImaginationLancaster has an extensive portfolio and strong track record of major research into cities, working directly with policy makers and city stakeholders via UK Government Office for Science and the Future Cities Catapult.
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This report describes the results of a workshop undertaken as part of a programme of advice commissioned by Infrastructure UK to consider the interdependencies and future engineering challenges as part of an ‘engineering roadmap’ for the next National Infrastructure Plan (due to be published in autumn 2011). This plan will include specific actions needed to achieve an integrated, reliable, secure and resilient national infrastructure.
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On 19th May we launched the Creative Exchange.
It was an afternoon and an evening of speakers and discussion at the Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester, in conjunction with FutureEverything Festival. We had a fascinating and diverse array of speakers.
...Read full article